Maxwell News

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 8:31 AM

Fire training held in Maxwell

The Maxwell Fire Department had a controlled house burn on April 7. Bondurant, Collins and Colo fire departments also participated in the burn. Fire training is very important to firefighters; they gain valuable experience when an opportunity comes up to burn a structure.

A structure that can be burned for training happens about every two to three years. Several things have to be determined before a fire department can burn a structure for fire training purposes. It has to be safe, the house cannot contain any asbestos, it must be within a safe distance from other structures and notice must be given to nearby neighbors for the burn to happen.

Maxwell fire Chief Tony Ness said the controlled burn went well and all members were able to gain valuable structure fire training, and he issued a thank-you to the three other departments that came to help out. They were able to use three rooms inside the house for training purposes before they burned the remainder of the house down. All departments stayed on site, monitoring the fire, hosing down nearby trees and the grass outside of the house, making sure the fire stayed contained.

Also on hand for training was the Maxwell First Responders team. They provided rehab services for the firemen on site, much like they would if called out to any other fire. First Responder President Jamie Ness explained, when there is a fire (particularly a long one), the fire department will page First Responders to provide rehab services. During rehab, the incident commander over the fire scene will send firefighters to EMS, where they sit, relax, rehydrate and have their vitals taken to ensure they are within normal limits. With adrenaline pumping in a high stress environment, blood pressures and heart rates can get dangerously high. We provide a way to make sure the vitals are monitored, and once vitals are back within normal range, they are released back to duty.

Maxwell citywide cleanup

Maxwell’s Citywide Cleanup is this Saturday, April 20, 7 a.m. - 12 p.m. The drop off site is behind Casey’s. City crews will be on hand to look over items and charge as necessary. There is a $10 charge for TVs, appliances and grills.